Module 5 in CRI 184 (Supplemental Notes)

(Sigmund Freud)

Psychoanalytical Theory

(B.F. Skinner)
Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning)

Reinforcement in Operant Conditioning

 Reinforcement is any event that strengthens or increases the behavior it follows. There are
two kinds of reinforcers. In both of these cases of reinforcement, the behavior increases.

1. Positive reinforcers are favorable events or outcomes that are presented after the behavior.
A response or behavior is strengthened by the addition of praise or a direct reward. *For
example, if you do a good job at work and your manager gives you a bonus, that bonus is a
positive reinforcer.

2. Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an unfavorable events or outcomes after the
display of a behavior. A response is strengthened by the removal of something considered
unpleasant. *For example, if your child starts to scream in the middle of a restaurant, but
stops once you hand them a treat, your action led to the removal of the unpleasant
condition, negatively reinforcing your behavior (not your child's).

Punishment in Operant Conditioning

 Punishment is the presentation of an adverse event or outcome that causes a decrease in
the behavior it follows. There are two kinds of punishment. In both of these cases, the
behavior decreases.

1. Positive punishment, sometimes referred to as punishment by application, presents an

unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken the response it follows. *For example,
spanking for misbehavior is an example of punishment by application.

2. Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when a favorable

event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs. *For example, taking away a child's
video game following misbehavior is an example of negative punishment.

Recap
The five principles of operant conditioning are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement,
positive punishment, negative punishment, and extinction.

 Extinction occurs when a response is no longer reinforced or punished, which can lead to
the fading and disappearance of the behavior.

Examples of Operant Conditioning

 After performing in a community theater play, you receive applause from the audience. This
acts as a positive reinforcer, inspiring you to try out for more performance roles.
  You train your dog to fetch by offering him praise and a pat on the head whenever he
performs the behavior correctly. This is another positive reinforcer.

 A professor tells students that if they have perfect attendance all semester, then they do not
have to take the final comprehensive exam. By removing an unpleasant stimulus (the final
test), students are negatively reinforced to attend class regularly.

 If you fail to hand in a project on time, your boss becomes angry and berates your
performance in front of your co-workers. This acts as a positive punisher, making it less likely
that you will finish projects late in the future.

 A teen girl does not clean up her room as she was asked, so her parents take away her phone
for the rest of the day. This is an example of a negative punishment in which a positive
stimulus is taken away.

(Albert Bandura)

Theory of Aggression
Predictions:
Bandura made several key predictions about what would occur during the Bobo doll experiment.

 Boys WOULD behave more aggressively than girls.

 Children who observed an adult acting aggressively WOULD BE likely to act aggressively, even
when the adult model was not present.

 Children WOULD BE more likely to imitate models of the same sex rather than models of the
opposite sex.

 The children who observed the non-aggressive adult model WOULD BE less aggressive than
the children who observed the aggressive model; the non-aggressive exposure group
WOULD also be less aggressive than the control group.

Results:
The results of the experiment supported some of the original predictions, but also included some
unexpected findings:

 Bandura and his colleagues had predicted that children in the non-aggressive group would
behave less aggressively than those in the control group. The results indicated that while
children of both genders in the non-aggressive group did tend to exhibit less aggression
 than the control group, boys who had observed a non-aggressive, opposite-sex model were
more likely than those in the control group to engage in violence.

 Children exposed to the violent model tended to imitate the exact behavior they had
observed when the adult model was no longer present.

 Researchers were correct in their prediction that boys would behave more aggressively
than girls. Boys engaged in more than twice as many acts of physical aggression than the
girls.

 There were important gender differences when it came to whether a same-sex or opposite-
sex model was observed. Boys who observed adult males behaving violently were more
influenced than those who had observed female models behaving aggressively.

 Interestingly, the experimenters found in same-sex aggressive groups, boys were more likely
to imitate physical acts of violence while girls were more likely to imitate verbal aggression.

(Shaw and McKay)

Culture Deviance Theory

What are the elements of cultural deviance theory?

Cultural Deviance Theory operates on the assumption that people are influenced by the community
that they live in, whether that influence is good or bad. The individual is not considered primarily
responsible, but rather under the influence of the location of the surrounding community culture.

What is an example of cultural deviance theory?

Cultural deviance theory states that rates of crime are heavily influenced by the cultural values of the
surrounding community. Those values differ between cultures and can have both positive and
negative effects.
Robert Merton Strain Theory
Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin Differential Opportunity Theory

Conflict Theory Marxist Mode:

What did Karl Marx think of the bourgeoisie?

Karl Marx largely kept his personal feelings out of his writing, but he believed that the bourgeoisie
had too much control over society and that their treatment of the proletariat was unjust. He argued
that the proletariat should rise up and take control of the means of production.

What is an example of a bourgeoisie?

People who would be considered members of the bourgeoisie include factory owners, CEOs of
companies, and investors. They own the means of production, take most of the profits of any
business, and pay their workers in wages.

What did Karl Marx call the working class?

Karl Marx used the term 'proletariat' to describe the working class. He was not the first to do so: the
term originated in ancient Rome.

Who are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat?

The bourgeoisie are the people who control the means of production in a capitalist society; the
proletariat are the members of the working class. Both terms were very important in Karl Marx's
writing.

References:
 https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863 (What Is Operant
Conditioning? How Reinforcement and Punishment Modify Behavior by Kendra Cherry,
MSEd)

 https://www.verywellmind.com/bobo-doll-experiment-2794993 (What the Bobo Doll

Experiment Reveals About Kids and Aggression by Kendra Cherry, MSEd

 https://study.com/academy/lesson/cultural-deviance-theory-definition-
examples.html#:~:text=Clifford%20Shaw%20and%20Henry%20McKay%20developed%20a
%20theory%20that%20has,community%20within%20which%20the%20reside. (Shaw &
McKay’s Cultural Deviance Theory)

 https://helpfulprofessor.com/differential-opportunity-theory/ (Differential Opportunity

Theory by Gregory Paul C., MA and Peer Reviewed by Chris Drew, PhD)

 https://study.com/learn/lesson/bourgeoisie-proletariat-karl-marx.html (Karl Marx on The

Bourgeoisie & Proletariat)